Medical professionals continue 'anti-racism' push in public health schools
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, an organization that works closely with a variety of government agencies and nonprofits, wrapped up a series of workshops last semester on anti-racism.
Academics from Duke University and Portland State University presented during the series.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, an organization that works closely with a variety of government agencies and nonprofits, wrapped up a series of workshops last semester on anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Two professors were among the presenters.
“Exploring a Culture of Fairness, Respect, and Anti-racism Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Health Professions Education” ran from November 9, 2021, to March 23, 2022.
In a Feb. 22 presentation, Mary Klotman, dean of Duke University School of Medicine, discussed the school’s “Dismantling Racism” initiative, which includes educating Duke Medicine students on social justice and anti-racism, and requiring anti-bias and anti-racist training.
That same day, Dawn Richardson, associate dean of social justice at Portland State University School of Public Health, spoke about “the structures and the systems that maintain and uphold white supremacy at every level of the institutions in which we all sit.”
[RELATED: ‘Mercer University Diversity Czar claims ‘Racism is a public health crisis’’]
The workshops are now available on the National Academies’ website for the use of university educators to eliminate “racism and discrimination within the health professions and education” and provide “the spark for initiating DEI and anti-racism curricula and structures.”
The educational material reflected common themes from Critical Race Theory (CRT), including the ideas that health inequities “are primarily the product and consequences of racism and not race.”
The effort to incorporate CRT-related curricula into schools of medicine and public health has been a trend in recent years, as Campus Reform has previously reported.
According to analysis by the watchdog organization Critical Race Training in Education, at least fifty medical schools in the United States have integrated, or plan to integrate, CRT into some aspect of their education.
Campus Reform contacted the National Academies and the Office of Richard Baker for comment but did not receive a response. This article will be updated accordingly.
